Orange County School of the Arts students from a music theory class and a video game design class collaborated to develop a video game with student-composed music. Tiffany Kath, one of the programmers of the second level of the game, explains what’s going on in the game being played back on the overhead projector. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)(Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Orange County School of the Arts students from a music theory class and a video game design class collaborated to develop a video game with student-composed music. Kip Schwartz, one of the composers, takes smart phone video of the first playback of the game. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

One of the graphics from a video game created by Orange County School of the Arts students. (Photo by Sam Gangwer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Along with tests and final projects recently, a few students at Orange County School of the Arts also had ghosts in a jungle, an alien in a cave and a witch on an island on their minds.

These students, from video game design and beginning musicianship classes, were busy working together to design three levels of a computer-based video game called “Quest Coast.” The design students were responsible for coming up with the story line and art while the music students composed original scores for each level.

“Making a game is interesting because of how interactive the whole thing is,” said junior Alex Heideman. “It takes a lot of creativity to think of all the components of the game. Adding the music is the last piece that really heightens the atmosphere of the visual art part.”

Bringing together students from two different programs offered them a chance to work with people outside their normal social circles.

“Sometimes there’s a pretty big divide between the performing arts and the visual arts, so this project gave us the chance to combine the two art forms,” said senior Cory Accardo. “It’s pretty cool because both classes are learning at the same time, and since the whole point of this school is to learn and expand our art, it works out pretty well.”

One thing the students had to learn was how to talk about their respective art form in terms that the others could understand, which, they say, made them realize that they speak a foreign language of sorts when it comes to their specific field of study.

Heideman, who has never played an instrument, said he feels like he now has a better understanding of music composition.

“We talked about the principles of rhythm, crescendo and beats,” said Heideman. “I think this will help me in the future when I try to describe my ideas and explain the link between my illustrations and music.”

The game follows the character Quanzo as he embarks on an adventure to find his missing dentures. Heideman, who created Quanzo, described the character as “a corn dog with big eyes and noodle-like arms and legs.”

As Quanzo moves through the various game environments, he runs from vicious palm trees, collects the pieces of his broken spaceship and climbs dangerous rock formations before finally reaching the end of his journey.

The music reflects the various locations by incorporating sounds like Calypso-inspired steel drums for the jungle level and electronic space noises for alien encounters.

“Music can add a lot of mood to something and completely change the atmosphere,” said freshman Sarah Sparks. “When it comes to video games, I think music sets the tone for what is happening and makes a player feel like they are part of the game.”

Although adding music to the games was not essential, the game design students agreed that it made the project feel more complete.

Game design teacher Autumn Clarey said that adding the musical component provided extra motivation to students, encouraging them to put more thought into their artistic choices.

“I think adding the music allowed (the game design students) to show off the emotional side, the artistic side, of an art form that isn’t always considered an art,” said Clarey. “This field is very technical, but there are a lot of aesthetic and expressive choices in it.”

Kaitlin Wright has written about the arts for the Orange County Register since 2013. Having studied dance and literary journalism at the University of California, Irvine, she is lucky to combine both interests in her coverage of professional dance in Southern California. Kaitlin also writes about lifestyle and decor trends for OC Home magazine. Kaitlin lived in Albuquerque, Las Vegas and the Antelope Valley before moving to Orange County for college.

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